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Updates: My 2018 in Review (Best SF Novels, Best SF Short Fiction, and Bonus Catagories)

/ Joachim Boaz / 34 Comments

Post-academia depression hits hard…. While completing my PhD (defended in the summer of 2017), reading SF and writing about SF was the way I kept sane. After multiple mostly unsuccessful years on the academic market, I have changed gears career-wise (although I’m still affiliated with a university and teaching college-level history courses but without the research component) and it has been a liberating experience. My history obsessions remain, even stronger in many ways, and academic monographs on all the topics that I wanted to read about but never could—Hellenistic successor states to Alexander, Early Islam, Late Antique and Medieval Persia, etc.–have dominated my time and pocketbook 2018 (don’t ask how much I’ve spent). I have included a “Best Academic History Reads of 2018” section for the curious.

At the beginning of November, I was moments from announcing that I was on hiatus for the foreseeable future. However, I have fallen back in love with SF and writing about SF and the new year beckons!

All of this is to say, I read little SF this year–until last month. However, there were a handful of stand-out SF novels and short stories that I managed to squeeze in.

And please list your favorite vintage (or non-vintage) SF reads of the year. I look forward to reading your comments.

Enjoy!

…and read lots of good books in 2019. I will.

Best SF Novels Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Interior Art: The Power of a Good Introduction (Judith Merril’s 1968 New Wave Anthology England Swings SF)

/ Joachim Boaz / 25 Comments


(Ron Walotsky’s cover for the 1970 Ace edition)

I must confess, I generally skip the introductions to anthologies—even if they are written by my favorite authors who happen to be notable anthologists (Judith Merril, Robert Silverberg, Barry N. Malzberg, etc.). While paging through various collections hunting for stories, I encountered Judith  Merril’s micro-introduction to her famous New Wave anthology England Swings SF (1968). Here’s a list of the contents.

Although it is spread across three pages, it is only a few lines of text–a poetic beckoning, itself a condensed version of what the New Wave embodied. Merril’s intro as poem demonstrates literary invention, the blend of old (“scout ship”) and new (“heading out of sight into the multiplex mystery of inner/outer space”) images, and references to both high (“surrealism) and pop culture (“Beatles”). Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. CXCVIII “Christmas Edition” (An Atlas of Fantasy + Sturgeon + Jeter + Berriault)

/ Joachim Boaz / 26 Comments

1. One of two SF/F gifts (not specifically for Christmas — but let’s pretend!) I’ve included in this post…. Due to my recent series on Maps and Diagrams in Science Fiction, a reader and fan of the site sent me his extra copy of J.B. Post’s An Atlas of Fantasy (1973)–which includes some SF maps as well. Thank you!

2. The second gift—I’ve been spacing a giant pile of vintage SF I received from a family friend out over many months! Sturgeon sometimes intrigues, and sometimes infuriates—hopefully there will be more of the former in this collection. No stories in the vein of “The Hurkle Is a Happy Beast” (1949) please.

3. Dr. Adder, K. W. Jeter’s infamous “couldn’t be published when it was written” novel that might have defined “cyberpunk” long before Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984). I have the Bluejay Books 1st edition with lots of evocative (and disturbing) interior art.

4. And finally, a completely unknown quantity from an author I’d never heard of–Gina Berriault. Promises to be a Cold War satire of impending nuclear destruction. And it has a History professor as a main character! (i.e. maybe a 1960s version of me? we shall see).

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

And let me know in the comments if you receive any SF/fantasy Christmas gifts.

~

1. An Atlas of Fantasy, J. B. Post (1973)

(Uncredited cover for the 1979 edition) Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Interior Art: Monday Maps and Diagrams (Science Fiction) 12/24/18 — C. J. Cherryh’s Forty Thousand in Gehenna (1983)

/ Joachim Boaz / 3 Comments

Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/24/18

Sometimes a map tells a story…. Sometimes a series of maps reveal the evolution of a story. C. J. Cherryh’s sequence of six maps of the same location in Forty Thousand in Gehenna (1983) tracks the evolving relationship between settlers, azi clones, and native caliban lizard creatures.

A careful eye might be able to discern the general trajectory of the novel’s plot — if you haven’t read it yet, than perhaps (if you can tear your eyes off of MAPS) proceed no further….

Enjoy!

The Maps:

Continue reading →

Book Review: Mindship, Gerard F. Conway (1974)

/ Joachim Boaz / 4 Comments

mindship conway(Kelly Freas’ cover for the 1974 edition)

3/5 (Average)

“The only truth is what happens, in plain and simple reality. I’ve seen the inside of too many minds to think any man’s intentions can be good. We’re evil inside ourselves Kilgarin. We’re sick and foul and filthy. The only ones who come close to being pure are those too stupid to be anything else” (72).

Back in 2016 I read Universe 1, ed. Terry Carr (1971) and was pleasantly surprised by Gerard F. Conway’s short story “Mindship” (1971) about telepathic (“sensitive”) “corks” who calm the minds of the spaceship crews whose psychic powers run interstellar “engines.” This story forms the prologue of Conway’s novel continuation. In an odd way, the novel reinterprets the original short story and adds an additional level of mystery (it wasn’t an accidental death, it was a murder!) to its straightforward plot.

Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Interior Art: Monday Maps and Diagrams (Science Fiction) 12/10/18 — Suzy McKee Charnas’ Walk to the End of the World (1974)

/ Joachim Boaz / 13 Comments

Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/10/18

A map from one of my absolute favorite SF novels… Suzy McKee Charnas’ Walk to the End of the World (1974).

The Map:

Citation: Map from the Ballantine Books 1st edition of Suzy McKee Charnas’ Walk to the End of the World (1974)
Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Interior Art: Monday Maps and Diagrams (Science Fiction) 12/3/18 — Mark S. Geston’s Lords of the Starship (1967)

/ Joachim Boaz / 15 Comments

Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/3/18

As I paged through the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books in my science fiction question in a search for maps, my interior dialogue went something like this….

“Map? No. Map? No. Map? No. Map? No. Map? YES! FINALLY! Is the book a far future post-apocalyptical pseudo-medieval type story? Yes. Sounds about right. Do any other science fiction stories have maps?” Repeat.

Here’s one from a Mark S. Geston far future post-apocalyptical pseudo-medieval type story….

The Map:

Citation: Jack Gaughan’s map from the Ace Books 1st edition of Mark S. Geston’s Lords of the Starship (1967) [click to enlarge] [review]

Series blurb: In my informal Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Interior Art: Monday Maps and Diagrams (Science Fiction) — Jack Vance’s Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973)

/ Joachim Boaz / 16 Comments

Monday Maps and Diagrams 11/26/18

In my informal Monday Maps and Diagrams series I will showcase scans of SF maps and diagrams from my personal collection. As a kid I was primarily a fantasy reader and I judged books on the quality of their maps. When my reading interests shifted to science fiction, for years I still excitedly peeked at the first few pages… there could be a map!

Let’s start off with a simple yet effective map via Jack Vance. Islands, and rivers, and swamps….

The Map:

Citation: Map from the 1973 Ballantine edition of Jack Vance‘s Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973) [click to enlarge]. Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. CXCVII (Farmer + Leinster + Williams + Anthology)

/ Joachim Boaz / 20 Comments

I’ve returned! New books!

If you missed it, I also posted a new review of a fantastic novel that melds New Wave sensibilities with an engaging narrative. Check it out.

1. A gift from a family friend…. But what a John Schoenherr cover!

2. Another gift…. a fun space medic premise but I do not trust anything produced by Leinster to have depth yet alone be “thought-provoking” as the blurb proclaims.

3. A Toronto, CA find — unfortunately a tag mutilated the cover…

4. Another Toronto, CA find — while browsing through the shelves I was reminded of one of Tarbandu’s infrequent 5/5 reviews…. We don’t always agree but he introduced me to John Crowley!

As always, comments are welcome.

Enjoy!

~

  1. Alien Worlds, ed. Roger Elwood (1964)

(John Schoenherr’s cover for the 1964 edition) Continue reading →